Two faces, Two dials, Two identities
High performance escapement with “triple pare-chute” protection
After a two-year hiatus, Inhorgenta took place from April 8 to 11, 2022, where almost 800 exhibitors showcased their new products. The Inhorgenta is an important trade platform for the DACH market comprising Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Although the event is best known as a venue for jewelry brands and particularly innovative independent jewelry designers, it has also become increasingly interesting regarding mechanical watches of the entry-level segment in recent years.
Among the key exhibiting watch brands were the Citizen group with Frédérique Constant, Alpina, and Bulova; Black Forest-based Junghans; Sinn Spezialuhren from Frankfurt; and Tutima Glashütte and Mühle Glashütte from the famous Saxon city.
Here are three of my highlights premiering in Bavaria’s capital.
What would have been unthinkable a few years ago seems to be a lovely trend this year: red dials. My dear colleague Martin Green dived deep into this topic and came up with four beautiful, brightly red-dialed timepieces from Omega, Bell & Ross, Rado, and Oris. Well, here is a fifth to make it a quintet: Tutima Glashütte’s latest addition to the M2 Seven Seas S collection features a shining red gradient dial with the color turning to almost black around the periphery.
Tutima Glashütte M2 Seven Seas S Red
This Tutima Glashütte diver’s watch boasts water resistance to 500 meters thanks to a screw-in crown and crown guard and a screw-down case back. It goes without saying that the intense colorway provides great readability in the dark and underwater, in particular thanks to Super-LumiNova coating on the indices, hands, and reference point on the diver’s bezel. It is also notable that the dial is protected by a sapphire crystal pane with a thickness of three millimeters.
While Tutima is a pioneer in titanium watches, the M2 Seven Seas S, an offspring of the M2 Seven Seas titanium diver’s watch, sports a steel case. This metal pairs nicely with the watch’s tool-watch aura and adds an elegant touch thanks to the finely polished and brushed surfaces.
Tutima Glashütte M2 Seven Seas S Red
The case houses the German brand’s Caliber 330, which is based on the Sellita SW200 and boasts a rotor with a gold seal. The M2 Seven Seas S is available with a metal bracelet and a strap combining rubber with leather.
For more information, please visit tutima.com.
Quick Facts Tutima Glashütte M2 Seven Seas S Case: 44 x 13 mm, stainless steel Movement: automatic Caliber 330 (base Sellita SW200), 28,800 vph/4 Hz frequency, 38-hour power reserve Functions: hours, minutes, seconds; date Price: €1,650 (bracelet)
MeisterSinger has been producing intriguing timepieces in the German university city Münster for more than 20 years. Its unique approach is to display time in a more stress-free manner by using only one hand.
MeisterSinger’s collection consists mostly of single-handed watches that indicate the time in five-minute increments, and they are all about details. Taking their cues from early timekeepers, the instrument-style dials are reduced to the bare essentials and distinguished by an extended sweep hand that takes care of the simultaneous indication of the hour and minute.
Over time, MeisterSinger has turned this principle into an artistic expression that includes cool variations such as day and date indications, a timepiece with an oversized moon indication, and power reserve indicators.
As a nod to the history of timekeeping and a tribute to the brand’s twentieth anniversary, MeisterSinger introduced the magnificent Bell Hora in 2021 with an en passant chiming function that emits a single chime at the top of each hour automatically. This rare complication earned the single-handed timepiece a 2021 Red Dot award.
Taking its inspiration from traditional clock towers, this wristwatch produces just a single chime unlike a minute repeater complication, which on demand strikes the time down to the minute. At the heart of this charming function is a module with a strike mechanism produced by MeisterSinger that is added to the Sellita SW200-1 base automatic movement, which ticks beneath a beautiful dial that is now available in a black iteration with gold-colored elements.
The design of the wide watch face with double-digit numbers in a beautiful vintage font is meticulous and balanced down to the smallest detail. From the very first impression, it reveals MeisterSinger’s typical instrument style and yet it is surprisingly different.
Based on a historical model from the late nineteenth century, the 24 numbers, one for each hour of the day, are arranged to follow the course of a coiled spring, creating an almost hypnotic optical effect that draws the eye from the center outward or from the outside into the center, depending on perspective and preference.
For more information, please visit www.meistersinger.com/de/product/bell-hora-schwarz-gold.
Quick Facts MeisterSinger Bell Hora Case: 43 x 13 mm, stainless steel Movement: automatic Caliber MS Bell (base Sellita SW200-1), 28,800 vph/4 Hz frequency, 38-hour power reserve Functions: hours, minutes; sonnerie au passage Price: €3,690
Mühle Glashütte introduced a new iteration of its 29er Big with a very contemporary take. Named after a fast, compact sailing dinghy, this formidable product family is designed for use on the water and in the outdoors but looks also stylish in a business setting paired with an elegant suit. Prioritizing reliability and legibility, this model family comprises chronographs and three-handed models with date indication as well as day-dates and is available in a wide range of colorways.
Mühle Glashütte 29er Big (photo courtesy @chronoshop_cz & @nodatediver)
The newest 29er Big sets sail with an understated gray dial that is literally reduced to the essentials. The minute track, tiny seconds numerals, and luminescent hour markers have been moved to the anthracite-colored flange, while the dial features applied indices and a wonderfully designed date window. As a result, this Mühle Glashütte watch has strong a degree of purity.
The focus on practicability is also evident in the case design, which owes its instrument-like charm to diversely designed surfaces. The bezel has a brushed top, while its flanks are finely polished. The case band is vertically cut and framed by the slim bezel as well as the likewise polished sides of the screw-down case back.
Mühle Glashütte 29er Big
Water-resistant to 100 meters, the 29er Big is equipped with the tried-and-tested Sellita SW200-1 caliber. It has received some delightful enhancements such as an individualized rotor and the brand’s own “woodpecker neck” fine adjustment spring – Mühle’s take on the swan-neck spring – which is particularly shock resistant. The movement is regulated to chronometer norms and offers a precision rate between 0 and +8 seconds per day.
The 29er Big is available on a leather/rubber strap that offers both good looks and resilience and also comes with a leather strap or steel bracelet.
For more information, please visit https://www.muehle-glashuette.de/en/watch/29er-big.
Quick Facts Mühle Glashütte 29er Big Case: 42.4 x 11.3 mm, stainless steel Movement: automatic Caliber Sellita SW200-1, 28,800 vph/4 Hz frequency, 41-hour power reserve Functions: hours, minutes, seconds; date Price: €1,500 (without tax)
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I have a lot of respect for Meistersinger. Well finished, unusual pieces at a decent price.
If the Tutima was also reasonably sized, I’d be all over it
It wears smaller than its size indicates.
Yes Red watch two piece same hope ready my life partner and me collected Amazon me Qatar World Cup football 2022* Go ahead Germany!
Still letting nonsense engine comments post huh ? Its disappointing.
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